Gastonia author helps new parents 'Get a Grip'

Thursday

Sep 20, 2012 at 12:01 AMSep 20, 2012 at 11:39 AM

Fran Farlow

Robin G. Banks puts it this way: If you want to be a star on Broadway, you take acting lessons. If you want a good job, you seek a higher education. If you’re planning to be a mom or dad, shouldn’t you prepare for the most important job on the planet?

That’s why she wrote, “Get A Grip: Parenting Tips I Wish I’d Known Then That You Can Know Now,” a book filled with a mix of humor and straight talk about parenting.

For 25 years when Banks was in the throes of rearing her family of husband, three children, two dogs, multiple stray cats, assorted tropical fish, a pink and blue Easter chick, a token rodent, and seasonal hermit crabs, she says she had little idea what she was doing. But along the way, she learned plenty and now she wants to share that knowledge and experience.

Banks pulls no punches in outlining what she and her husband Bill did right, and wrong, raising their three now grown and successful children. In her book, which has won praise from Gazette parent columnist John Rosemond, the Gastonia author outlines how they learned through their mistakes, and thoughtfully outlines those lessons to help new parents and parents-to-be. It covers pre-baby to the challenge of the teen years.

“Robin’s a regular mom who offers a close-up of her growing pains to spare future and new parents of the stress and frustration she experienced,” writes Rosemond in a forward to the book. “Her honesty is sure to help them get a grip on parenthood.”

Her chapters discuss with humor but very candidly the do’s and don’ts of parenting.

Young people today starting a family face enormous challenges, according to Banks, including finding family time in an environment of electronic gadgetry, dealing with longer to-to lists, working long hours just to make a living in a world of financial insecurity and rearing children in a world that has been forever changed by outside forces including the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The book includes chapters such as “Baggage Claim: Recognizing Your Past and Dealing With it”; “Monkey See, Monkey Do: Setting a Good Example”; “The Art of Making Rules: Do’s and Don’ts”; “Behavior Management: Accountability/Discipline” and “Family Traditions: The Tie That Binds.”

In her epilogue, Banks sums up the message of her book best: “Never did I give up on parenting. Neither should you… I wanted ‘Get A Grip’ to be an informal guide to prepare future parents. I realized it was also a source of comfort for on-the-job parenting blues… it will remind you that you’re still a good parent.”